VMSA-2022-0016:VMware ESXi addresses DirectPath I/O (PCI-Passthrough) Information Leak vulnerabilities
23632
12 June 2022
12 June 2022
CLOSED
LOW
3.8
CVE-2022-21123,CVE-2022-21125,CVE-2022-21166
1. Impacted Products
- VMware ESXi
- VMware Cloud Foundation (Cloud Foundation)
2. Introduction
Intel has disclosed multiple side-channel vulnerabilities that impact VMware products running on Intel processors. Patches and advanced settings are available to mitigate these vulnerabilities in affected VMware products.
3. DirectPath I/O (PCI-Passthrough) Information Leak vulnerabilities (CVE-2022-21123, CVE-2022-21125, CVE-2022-21166)
Description
VMware ESXi contains information leak vulnerabilities when DirectPath I/O (PCI-Passthrough) is utilized. VMware has evaluated the severity of these issues to be in the Low severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 3.8.
Known Attack Vectors
A malicious actor with administrative access to a virtual machine that has an attached DirectPath I/O (PCI-Passthrough) device can take advantage of a flaw in memory-mapped I/O (MMIO) fill buffers that may leak information stored in physical memory about the hypervisor or other virtual machines that reside on the same ESXi host if the host utilizes Intel processors.
Resolution
To mitigate CVE-2022-21123, CVE-2022-21125, and CVE-2022-21166, apply the patches listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Resolution Matrix' found below and enable the VMkernel.Boot.forceHyperthreadingMitigation advanced setting documented in KB88632. This mitigation enables the SCAv2 scheduler and will impose the same performance impact that was previously documented.
Workarounds
None.
Additional Documentation
A supplemental FAQ was created for additional clarification.
Notes
None.
Acknowledgements
None.
Response Matrix:
Product | Version | Running On | CVE Identifier | CVSSv3 | Severity | Fixed Version | Workarounds | Additional Documentation |
ESXi | 7.0 | Any | CVE-2022-21123, CVE-2022-21125, CVE-2022-21166 | low | None | |||
ESXi | 6.7 | Any | CVE-2022-21123, CVE-2022-21125, CVE-2022-21166 | low | None | |||
ESXi | 6.5 | Any | CVE-2022-21123, CVE-2022-21125, CVE-2022-21166 | low | None |
Impacted Product Suites that Deploy Response Matrix Components:
Product | Version | Running On | CVE Identifier | CVSSv3 | Severity | Fixed Version | Workarounds | Additional Documentation |
Cloud Foundation (ESXi) | 4.x | Any | CVE-2022-21123, CVE-2022-21125, CVE-2022-21166 | low | None | |||
Cloud Foundation (ESXi) | 3.x | Any | CVE-2022-21123, CVE-2022-21125, CVE-2022-21166 | low | None |
4. References
ESXi70U3e-19898904:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/rn/vsphere-esxi-70u3e-release-notes.html
ESXi670-202206101-SG:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/rn/esxi670-202206001.html
Mitigation KBs:
ESXi: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/88632
VCF 4.x: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/88695
VCF 3.x: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/88707
FAQ:
https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2022-0016-qna
Performance White Paper:
https://www.vmware.com/techpapers/2018/scheduler-options-vsphere67u2-perf.html
Mitre CVE Dictionary Links:
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-21123
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-21125
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-21166
FIRST CVSSv3 Calculator:
CVE-2022-21123: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N
CVE-2022-21125: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N
CVE-2022-21166: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N
5. Change Log
2022-06-14: VMSA-2022-0016
Initial security advisory.
6. Contact
E-mail list for product security notifications and announcements:
https://lists.vmware.com/mailman/listinfo/security-announce
This Security Advisory is posted to the following lists:
E-mail: [email protected]
PGP key at:
VMware Security Advisories
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories
VMware Security Response Policy
https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/security_response.html
VMware Lifecycle Support Phases
https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/lifecycle.html
VMware Security & Compliance Blog
https://blogs.vmware.com/security
Copyright 2022 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.